Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: The Massive Goblin Village
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# Chapter 35
“Why the hell are we dragging that old guy along?”
Seong Yura grumbled.
At that, Park Jin-han, the Diamond Warrior, burst out laughing.
“Why are you throwing a tantrum again? What did that old man ever do to you?”
“It’s not a tantrum! It’s just annoying to have some useless guy tagging along who won’t help anyway.”
Baek Siwoo gave a wry smile at her words.
That was his closest friend’s personality.
If someone seemed even a little lacking, she’d look down on them from above and dismiss them.
It seemed like she was trying to boost her self-esteem that way.
‘She seemed to be getting a bit better.’
But after being summoned to this world, it felt like she’d regressed.
Maybe it was because of the visible “hierarchy” from ranks and levels.
“Yura.”
Baek Siwoo called out to Seong Yura, who kept complaining.
“What? Why? What do you want me to do?”
Was she anticipating a lecture?
Seong Yura snapped back prickly.
‘When she acts like that, no one can say a word.’
If he said anything now, her pride would be hurt, and she’d get even more vicious.
Not wanting to pick a fight for no reason, Baek Siwoo shook his head.
“Nothing.”
“Hmph!”
Seong Yura snorted and put on a haughty expression.
She wasn’t stupid; she probably had a good idea why Baek Siwoo had called her.
“But Siwoo, why did you really bring that old guy?”
Kim Taejin, true to his class as a Blazing Sorcerer, toyed with a flame on his fingertip as he asked.
The other friends looked over curiously as well.
“Just... he gave off a different vibe from the others.”
It was as good as saying there was no particular reason.
But his friends nodded in agreement.
They were friends, sure, but among them, Baek Siwoo had subtly taken on the role of leader.
He was the most talented, the most diligent, and had impeccable character...
They had no intention of objecting to just adding one more D-rank old man, especially since he wasn’t causing any trollish trouble.
“If he gets in the way, I’ll just smash his head in with my cross. So don’t try to stop me.”
Of course, Seong Yura was the exception.
“Yeah, yeah. Do whatever you want then.”
Baek Siwoo replied with a smile.
But deep down, he didn’t think Seo Woojin would be a hindrance.
‘That movement back then.’
His friends had been too absorbed in conversation to notice, but he’d seen it clearly.
The moment Lee Jin-ho’s face caved in from that casual punch.
It was clearly nothing special.
Not particularly fast, no mana infused—just a plain punch.
Yet it gave Baek Siwoo chills.
‘Could I have blocked it?’
He’d run simulations in his head multiple times.
And his conclusion.
‘No way.’
A D-rank’s punch that even an SSS-rank like him couldn’t block.
Even with a fivefold level difference, no less.
Baek Siwoo couldn’t comprehend it.
‘Of course, if we fought, I’d win.’
Even if that punch had landed on him, it wouldn’t have done much damage.
Still, Seo Woojin lingered in his mind.
That’s why, in this subjugation, he wanted to observe him properly once more.
To see what kind of person Seo Woojin really was.
And just how strong he was.
* * *
“My face is gonna get pierced at this rate.”
Seo Woojin sighed.
Baek Siwoo’s gaze felt burning into him.
“I have no idea why he’s like that.”
“What do you mean?”
Ailin, walking beside him, asked at Seo Woojin’s sudden odd remark.
“No, nothing.”
He didn’t want to say he was getting intense stares from another guy and risk misunderstandings.
‘If it’s something worth his interest in me, it’s gotta be that.’
The day he’d smashed Lee Jin-ho’s face.
Baek Siwoo had even asked to get punched once himself.
Unless he had that kind of fetish, it meant he’d sensed something in that punch.
‘But I didn’t do anything special.’
As he’d explained back then, it was just raising his fist and hitting the nose.
What could be so intriguing about that simple motion?
Whoosh, swish, whoosh!
Seo Woojin threw some punches into the air.
No matter how he looked at it, there was nothing noteworthy.
“What have you been doing since earlier?”
Ailin asked again, furrowing her brow.
“Uh, just... checking something.”
It probably did look weird from the side.
Muttering to himself out of nowhere, punching at thin air.
It wasn’t the kind of behavior you’d expect on the way to a subjugation, so Seo Woojin gave an awkward smile and decided to stop thinking about it.
Somehow, Baek Siwoo’s gaze seemed even hotter now.
“How many do you think there’ll be?”
At Seo Woojin’s question, Ailin did some quick calculations before answering.
“Based on the info from each squad, at least 500 or more.”
“...That many?”
“That’s the conservative estimate. It might even be a megavillage.”
Megavillage.
A place where over a thousand monsters clustered together.
Even in the north, known as monster heaven, he hadn’t seen one...
“Is something like this possible in imperial territory?”
The Empire had stronger public security and military power than any nation on the continent.
Even common bandits were rare, let alone a thousand monsters?
Even if they were just goblins, this wasn’t normal.
“Of course not. It’s either a sign of the descent or something planned.”
He’d heard that anomalies increased as the Demon King’s descent approached.
But planned?
“By who? The Empire?”
No way they’d gathered goblins like that just to train the heroes.
“No way. Even the Empire wouldn’t put its subjects in danger like that.”
“Then?”
“Probably... followers of the Demon King.”
What was that now?
“You’re not saying there are people who actually want the Demon King to descend, are you?”
Seo Woojin asked, but as always, “no way” had a habit of biting people.
“Exactly.”
Black mages, other races corrupted by demonic energy, fallen nobles, and so on.
There were more Demon King worshippers than one might think.
“This time, it could be the work of other races.”
Ailin whispered “Dark Elves.”
Seo Woojin knew Dark Elves well.
They were a staple race in fantasy novels and games.
“Descendants of elves who couldn’t resist the demonic energy during the last Demon King descent and got corrupted.”
‘Huh, that’s the lore?’
It sounded vaguely familiar.
But the lore wasn’t what mattered.
“Are these Dark Elves strong?”
What if it wasn’t just goblins waiting ahead?
The Dark Elves might be lying in wait for the heroes too.
“They’re strong, but not something to worry about. That’s why they sent so many knights, accounting for that possibility.”
Combining the Empire and other kingdoms’ knights came to about 200.
Considering all of Sion’s knights together didn’t even reach 200, it showed how absurd this force was.
“With the heroes on top, even Dark Elves won’t show themselves easily. They tend to avoid fights they can’t win.”
Of course, most of those heroes were down right now.
“Do the other knights know about this?”
“Of course. They’ve probably had it in mind since the capital. They likely confirmed it after arriving here.”
From the unexpectedly large goblin numbers, they’d concluded Dark Elf involvement.
“Then isn’t charging in like this dangerous?”
The forces were split.
Setting aside the knocked-out heroes, half the knights had stayed behind to guard them.
Here, there were only 100 knights and 12 heroes.
‘Can we handle a thousand goblins like this, let alone Dark Elves?’
Not knowing their strength, Seo Woojin felt uneasy.
“As long as the entire Dark Elf tribe isn’t mobilized, we’ll be fine.”
Ailin stated firmly, as if it were impossible.
“I see. That’s a relief then.”
If Ailin said so that confidently, it should be okay.
But as mentioned earlier.
“No way” always had a way of biting people.
* * *
Looking down from a small hill, the goblin village was a megavillage, just as Ailin had predicted.
Nearly 1,500 goblins strong.
The knights looked slightly tense.
Realizing from the numbers just how serious the situation was.
Ailin felt the same.
“There’s too many.”
Goblins themselves weren’t scary.
Fifty knights could sweep them easily.
What worried Ailin and the knights was the Dark Elves.
To command that many goblins meant that many Dark Elves had been deployed.
“Maybe we should retreat...”
As Ailin muttered, a mocking “Ha!” came from behind.
“Is it because you’re from Sion? Already scared?”
“Chester!”
The surrounding knights called his name to stop him, but he ignored them.
Instead, he lifted his chin higher, looking even more arrogant.
“If you’re scared, just piss off. We can handle this alone.”
Chester kept provoking Ailin.
“...Holy Kingdom?”
Snow-white plate armor.
It was the symbol of the Holy Kingdom of Iyer’s 1st Holy Knight Order.
“At least you’ve got eyes.”
“Enough. What do you think you’re doing?”
Someone who seemed to be Chester’s superior frowned.
But Chester paid no mind.
“Did I say anything wrong? Everyone heard the bumpkins from Sion talking about retreat. You want me to just sit there quietly?”
Relations between the Holy Kingdom and Sion weren’t great.
Especially between Massive Guardian’s Blue Wind Knights and the 1st Holy Knight Order—they were bitter rivals.
The surrounding knights coughed awkwardly and averted their eyes at Chester’s words.
They’d been irked by Ailin’s comment too.
If it had been an imperial or other kingdom knight suggesting retreat, they might’ve grudgingly agreed.
But not Sion.
They were a minor power.
“Do whatever you want, then.”
Ailin stepped back, showing no interest in arguing.
“What’s going on?”
Seo Woojin, who’d briefly stepped away and returned, tilted his head at the weird atmosphere.
It looked like everyone was glaring at Ailin.
But she just shook her head, expression saying it was nothing.
“Then let’s discuss strategy among ourselves. Tell the Sion bumpkins to sit back and wag their tails.”
At Chester’s words, Seo Woojin furrowed his brow.
That one line gave him a rough idea of what had happened.
“Just stay put.”
As Seo Woojin moved to step forward, Ailin grabbed his hand.
“Stepping in now won’t end well. Right now, we need to focus on something else besides that jerk.”
At Ailin’s grave tone, Seo Woojin nodded unwittingly.
“What is it?”
“If we attack the village like this, we’ll take massive casualties.”